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| African American Summit on Violence Prevention threatens L.A. Latinos |
| 2007-03-22 |
| IWILL sic SAY PUBLICLY what many people are whispering privately in barbershops, soul food restaurants and church parking lots in South Los Angeles. If relations don't improve between African Americans and Latinos in Southern California, we are headed for a major racial conflict. This is an outright threat. Imagine if a white leader threatened anyone with a "major racial conflict". Sure, this is multicultural Southern California, where coalition politics is supposed to rule. However, anyone paying attention to what is happening here knows the accuracy of this assessment. Why are Latinos committing violent crimes targeted against African Americans — especially in one neighborhood in the Harbor Gateway area — and why aren't Latino leaders speaking out against them? Why aren't Islamic leaders speaking out against violent crimes? According to The Times, police statistics show that from 1994 to 2005, there were nearly five times as many homicides, assaults and other violent crimes committed by Latinos against African Americans in Harbor Gateway as by African Americans against Latinos. One example of how out of control race relations have been in Harbor Gateway is the case of the 19-year-old African American man with no known gang affiliation who was killed by a Latino member of the 204th Street gang because the gang member was upset that an African American had defeated a Latino in a boxing match. Three Los Angeles members of a Latino gang known as the Avenues were convicted and sentenced to life in prison in November for hate crime violations, including killing African Americans in an effort to run them out of predominantly Latino neighborhoods. I went to a party in Avs territory once. With what I know now, I could have choked my friend for bringing me there. This escalating violence between Latinos and African Americans defies logic in so many ways. The two racial groups have had many similar struggles in Southern California and have coalesced around issues such as affirmative action, livable wages, justice for janitors and police misconduct. Translation: let's forget our differences and kill whitey instead. Clearly, African Americans are committing violent crimes against Latinos as well, but there is little evidence that those crimes are based on race as much as they are for control of turf. And the notion that Latinos are killing blacks in an effort to "ethnically cleanse" their neighborhoods is extremely troubling. Many African Americans are especially perplexed because they remember that when we had the numerical advantage, African Americans did not target Latinos for murder to rid them from our neighborhoods. It would have been unthinkable. African Americans throughout South Los Angeles have been asking: When are Latino political leaders going to speak out against these hate crimes? If a political coalition between Latinos and African Americans does exist, now's the time to show some muscle and make something happen. Yes, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa went to Harbor Gateway and encouraged residents to get along, and he offered assistance from the city to help solve some of the socioeconomic problems that plague the area. And City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo proposed tougher penalties for gang members who commit hate crimes. But other Latino political leaders have been silent. Let's get the opinion of some more leaders, like La Raza ("the race"). Oh, yeah, they think the whole area should be ethnically cleansed and annexed to Mexico. I suspect that if these hate crimes were being committed by the KKK against Latinos or African Americans, both communities would come together and condemn the violence as racist. Why not now? Let's have House-Senate hearings sponsored by the Congressional Black and Hispanic caucuses, and special legislative hearings in Sacramento on the rise in targeted hate crimes. Let's have community meetings convened by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, like those held about the crisis at the former King/Drew medical center. A few African American officials and some well-intentioned pastors and community activists cannot solve this problem; it also requires some heavy lifting by Latino political leadership. After all, what's the point in having a coalition if you can't coalesce and solve problems that are killing your constituent members? |
| Posted by:gromky |
| #10 but you see what i'm gettin at |
| Posted by: sinse 2007-03-22 16:43 |
| #9 sorry i'm about drunk |
| Posted by: sinse 2007-03-22 16:43 |
| #8 no it sounds too me who is fighting for the drug trade money and who more dominantly now the drug baron unlike 80's LA |
| Posted by: sinse 2007-03-22 16:43 |
| #7 justice for janitors indeedy, make it so helmsman baby. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-03-22 16:27 |
| #6 It sounds like West Side Story . |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-03-22 15:21 |
| #5 One thing that tends to be left unsaid in pieces like this is whether or not the perps are here legally. My guess is they aren't. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2007-03-22 15:09 |
| #4 So can I get an over/under on shootouts at the African American Summit on Violence Prevention? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-03-22 13:18 |
| #3 How about National Brotherhood Week? |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2007-03-22 13:14 |
| #2 The oppressed brown peoples are hanging separately. Just a microcosm of what's been going on for at least a decade - the black pie is getting smaller in favor of our southern neighbors. |
| Posted by: anonymous2u 2007-03-22 12:47 |
| #1 “This escalating violence between Latinos and African Americans defies logic in so many ways.” This article is a classic example of the enormous disconnect that has gripped the multi-culturalists. These self appointed social engineers (and their mouth-pieces) will instinctually emphasize the cultural identity component (in this case it is the lack of racial understanding) as the root cause of most social problems. Perhaps, subconsciously this allows for self-vindication of their perceived solutions. Obviously, here we see “Hate Crimes” as their cause celeb. However, reality suggests that this is another indication of how those on the lower tier of the socioeconomic ladder will always be in competition with each other. Of course for the multi-culturalists, socioeconomic factors can only be addressed as blanket indicators of overall victim hood for the entire “oppressed class”. Therefore, the solution must be solved in terms of “economic assistance” from the establishment. Specifically this article represents those that fail to admit that an increasing influx of uneducated and unskilled people into areas that already have populations of desperate groups of individuals will have very predictable (negative) consequences. More importantly, this reiterates their refusal to acknowledge that their decades of social(ist) experiments have been an abject failure. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2007-03-22 10:50 |